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1968 UAMS College of Medicine graduate Jack Blackshear, M.D., is the college’s 2020 Distinguished Alumnus.

UAMS College of Medicine Honors 1968 Graduate Jack Blackshear, M.D., as 2020 Distinguished Alumnus

Jan. 4, 2021 | Jack Blackshear, M.D., has always had a soft spot in his heart for his medical school alma mater and the aspiring physicians who have followed in his footsteps since his 1968 graduation from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine.

The Paragould native and retired internal medicine/gastroenterology specialist’s dedication to UAMS and medical students is clear in many ways, such as his efforts with a classmate decades ago to establish and grow an annual scholarship for deserving medical students. It is also reflected in his history of service and leadership on UAMS boards and committees and as the longtime class agent for 1968 College of Medicine graduates.

But Blackshear’s commitment to Arkansas’ future physicians is perhaps most obvious whenever he has an opportunity to be around UAMS medical students.

The College of Medicine presented Blackshear with the 2020 Distinguished Alumnus Award this month – in a virtual ceremony, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to Christopher Westfall, M.D., UAMS executive vice chancellor and dean of the college, those joining in on Dec. 9 included Mallory Heft, a second-year medical student from Fort Smith who is this year’s recipient of the class scholarship Blackshear co-founded.

“Congratulations, Dr. Blackshear,” Heft said during the virtual celebration. “I hope to have such an influential career as you have had, and to have influenced so many people.”

Blackshear beamed when Heft mentioned having wanted to become a doctor since she was little. “We are very happy for you, and happy that our scholarship has grown so that we are able to give more and more each year to deserving students like you,” he said. “You are going to be a great doctor!”

Blackshear was nominated for the annual Distinguished Alumnus Award by fellow 1968 graduates William Mason, M.D., Art Squire, M.D., and Nancy Rector, M.D.

“Dr. Blackshear is exceptionally deserving of this honor based on his service to our profession and the citizens of Arkansas and for his leadership on many efforts to advance the mission of our medical school alma mater,” the classmates wrote in the nomination letter. “Dr. Blackshear is a remarkable physician, colleague and human being.”

“I couldn’t agree more with your classmates,” Westfall said during the award celebration. “It is a distinct pleasure to present you with this year’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.”

Westfall and Blackshear have worked together on a number of initiatives. Prior to the necessity of social distancing due to the pandemic, Blackshear joined Westfall at popular “Breakfasts with the Dean” for UAMS medical students, where the 1968 alumnus lent his insights and support to future physicians.

“I am just speechless,” Blackshear said after receiving the award. “There are so many people on whose shoulders I have stood. I am grateful to UAMS for giving me, and many more, purpose and the ability to be of service to others.”

Blackshear graduated from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, before attending medical school at UAMS. After his internship at St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock and graduating from the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Florida, Blackshear was an active duty U.S. Navy flight surgeon. He served with Marine Corps squadrons in California, Southeast Asia and Japan. In 1972, he returned to UAMS for postgraduate training in internal medicine and gastroenterology.

Blackshear was in private practice with Baptist Health in Little Rock from 1976 to 1993, when he became medical director for Prudential HMO and later for Health Advantage HMO. In 1996, he joined Parkway Village Clinic in Little Rock as a staff physician. From 2000 to 2007, he served as a staff physician and educator for the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. Blackshear served on the Baptist Health Board of Trustees in 1999-2012. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Gastroenterology.

From 2009 to 2020, Blackshear was a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight South Central, completing 134 compassionate flights for needy patients from Arkansas to and from UAMS and other nationally recognized tertiary hospitals. He was a volunteer physician in several Central Arkansas clinics for the underserved over the years. Blackshear applied his love of medicine and teaching as a sponsoring doctor, accompanying more than 100 first- and second-year medical students and nursing students on spring break medical missions in Central America and South America for many years. In 2007, he received the Odyssey Award for Service to the World from his undergraduate alma mater, Hendrix College.

Blackshear’s impact at UAMS has been extensive. To help future UAMS medical students and honor the late A.J. Thompson, M.D., a beloved classmate and colleague, he partnered with Frederick Joyce, M.D., to establish the 1968 A.J. Thompson Memorial Scholarship, which was first presented in 1993 and has continued since then as the funds have grown. Blackshear received the college’s Distinguished Service Award in 1995. He was later recognized as a member of the UAMS 1879 Society for making a significant estate gift to benefit UAMS. Blackshear and his wife, Bobbie, have long worked together to foster connections among alumni and UAMS. He is a past president of the college’s Caduceus Club.

In recent years, Blackshear served on the College of Medicine Board of Visitors and the UAMS Alumni Advisory Council. Among other major contributions, he chaired the steering committee that worked to establish the philanthropically supported Arkansas Medical Society Distinguished Dean’s Chair, which will be held by College of Medicine deans in perpetuity.